Lakshya Sen’s stirring comeback was the perfect subplot as the Indian men’s badminton team produced a superlative performance to outwit hosts Japan in the quarterfinals and assure itself of a medal at the Asian Games here on Tuesday.
The Indian men were the silver-medallists of the last edition.
Coming into the event after a series of early exits and low on confidence, Lakshya was staring at defeat after losing the opening game and trailing 14-19 in the decider.
However, the 25-year-old from Almora proved his mettle, reeling off seven straight points to beat world No.7 and two-time world championships silver-medallist Kodai Naraoka 11-21, 21-5, 21-19 to give India a 1-0 lead.
Playing the first doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who have won two titles this season, registered a 21-18, 24-22 win over former world champions Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo to extend India’s lead to 2-0.
Ayush Shetty, a finalist at the Badminton Asia Championships this year, then produc
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